culture and history

It is extremely difficult to place exact numbers of how many Traditional Travellers there are in Great Britain. Between 250,000 and 300,000 have been estimated.The first authenticated records of their presence in Britain are in 1505 in Scotland.The first authenticated record in England is in 1514.Life was hard for the Gypsy people in Europe before 1500. Laws were passed to expel Gypsies from Spain and Switzerland, and by 1650 most Gypsy people were slaves.In England under Queen Elizabeth 1, Gypsies were expelled along with all freed black slaves. Laws were passed condemning all Gypsies to death.When people were out of work, prices high and peasants were thrown off the land, it was the usual story of looking for someone to blame. Strangers make good scapegoats.In York in 1596 magistrates made children watch while their parents were hanged just because they were Egyptians [Gypsies].After 1780, anti Gypsy legislation was gradually repealed. Gypsy people became a useful source of cheap labour in the fields, blacksmiths and entertainers. Gypsies survived on the margins of society.After the mechanisation of farming, the lifestyle of Gypsies changed drastically. Not wanted for hop or strawberry picking and other traditional trades, the people found that they had to adapt, again work was difficult to find for some families and the motorisation of families also changed the travel patterns. The mechanisation of the traditional rural work started in the 1950s. The previous sources of livelihood did not provide sufficiently in the rural areas anymore. With industrialisation started the migration from rural areas. The changes in society were also reflected in the Roma population. Many Gypsies moved from the rural areas to the cities and towns.Over the past decades the material well-being of some Gypsy/Travellers has improved but there are various issues that have been identified and need addressing, for example the unusually high mortality rate and the fact that life expectancy of Traveller men is 10 years less than the national average and 12 years less for Traveller women.Legislation in Ireland brought about a bigger increase of Irish Travellers in England in the 1960s.

Romany Gypsies at Stow-on-the-Wold fair early 1990shttp://www.cotswolds.info/blogs/gypsy-horse-fair.shtml#horsefairLEGISLATIONOver the years there has been a wide range of legislative measures, which have attempted to stop Romani Gypsy people and Irish Travellers from leading a nomadic way of life and therefore from actually existing.Measures date back as far as 1530, under King Henry VIII with the introduction of the “Egyptians Act”, which was a ban on the immigration of Gypsies and also expelled those already in England.Queen Elizabeth brought in a further Act which states that if “the Egyptians do not give up their ungodly ways” they can be imprisoned, transported or executed.• Highway and Byways Act 1959, which effectively criminalized the Travelling life overnight as families were not allowed to stop on the side of the road.• The Caravan Sites and Control of Development Act of 1960. Many families who had got to know farmers over the years were displaced by this act, since farmers could no longer allow them to stay on their land, as they became eligible for fines if they technically ran a site without a valid site licence.• The 1968 Caravan Site Act led to the creation of sites by the local authorities, but unfortunately many authorities flouted the law and did not build the sites that were needed.• The Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994 swept the 1968 Caravan Sites Act away, again criminalizing this way of life. This Act also gave the Police increased powers including the right to impound vehicles if there were more than six. Guidelines issued to local authorities emphasised that before an eviction was carried out, health, educational and social needs must be taken into account.

RECENT LEGISLATIONThe Race Relations Act 1976 and Race Relations (Amendment) Act 2000 will now also include Scots Gypsy Travellers. This legislation along with The Human Rights Act 1998 should ensure that Romany Gypsy and Traditional Travellers are protected under the law as a minority.It is now a statutory requirement under section 225 of the Housing Act 2004 that there should be an accommodation needs assessment of all Gypsy and Traveller people.The Needs Assessments in some areas were very poor to start with but have improved over time.Our recommendations are that the assessments should be undertaken in a standardised way across the country in conjunction with the groups that are in the areas.In 2006 the new planning guidance circular was issued. (Circular 01/2006 Planning For Gypsy and Traveller Caravan Sites). To a certain degree, there has been an increase in site provision through the planning system, but the majority of these are only temporary permissions whilst the new regional planning system, Regional Spatial Strategies (RSS’s) gets under way.In the meantime, some districts and boroughs are objecting to providing pitches even though the identified numbers are very small compared to housing provision.In 2007 The Showman circular was issued as many local authorities ignored the fact the Showmen should also have their needs assessed. The majority of the early assessments did not include Showmen. Showman families have a tradition of travelling and living in caravans for centuries, they have their own planning circular, Circular 04/2007Planning For Travelling Show people (some Showmen are Romani also and some have Romani origins).A Bill was launched by Chris Johnson (Community Law Partnership) to promote security of tenure for local authority Gypsy caravan sites. Followed by a petition in 2008. In 2008 during the Housing and Renovation Bill, the clause that made local authority sites exempt from the 1983 Mobile Homes Act was removed. At this moment in time there is consultation on some aspects of the Mobile Homes Park legislation that many felt were not appropriate for Gypsy sites. “Assignment” for example.

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